You can no longer book Uber rides through Google Maps

One of those neat little tricks hidden within Google Maps is being able to book your Uber ride right from the navigation app. Unfortunately, that no longer exists. Eighteen months after the feature was introduced, Google posted a new support page that states plainly that “You can no longer book Uber rides directly in Google Maps.” The feature was previously accessible when you searched for a location and a tab for ride-sharing existed where you could book the ride from there. This tab still exists but now it’ll only show you an estimate of your ride and then it’ll send you out to the Uber app if you want to book a ride.

Even with 17 different services supported within the ride-sharing tab, Uber used to be the only app that will let you pay for a ride and complete the trip right from within Google Maps. It’s not known why Google and Uber decided to end this program.

Source: Ars Technica

Google Maps can change the navigation arrow to car icons on iOS

Tired of seeing the boring old navigation arrow on Google Maps? Well, you can change this up on iOS to either “a stylish sedan, a timeless pickup truck, or a speedy SUV” car icon. Google just released this as a new iOS-exclusive feature. You can try this out by just tapping on the navigation arrow when you’re in navigation mode. The new icons should show up there when you do this. There is no explanation why this is an iOS exclusive for now but Google has done this in the past and perhaps if it’s a popular feature it might make its way to Android, too.

Source: Android Authority

Google Maps will finally get Google Assistant

You may or may not have noticed but Google Maps’ navigation mode has been using Google’s old voice search functionality all this time. Finally, that’s going to change in the near future. Google announced at Google I/O 2018 that Google Assistant is finally coming to the app. It’ll be rolling out to Android devices this summer and will be coming to the iOS Maps app later in the year. Unlike it’s usual format of having Google Assistant take up most of the screen, on Maps it’ll show up as a small bar at the bottom of the navigation screen.

Source: Android Police

Google tweaks around with Maps’s navigation UI

Left: Current UI | Right: New UI

Google is constantly changing up its user interface for its apps as its design language changes. One of its latest things is introducing rounder elements to its apps. Google Maps is the newest app to get this treatment. We see the round elements are more or less equal sizes now. Also, the up arrow has been replaced by a draggable slider and the bottom info bar has rounded corners. As Android Police points out, these aren’t major changes but could be the start of a major redesign heading our way soon.